THE SUPREME COURT OF CANADA CLARIFIES THE STANDARD OF REVIEW FOR STANDARD FORM CONTRACTS IN LEDCOR CONSTRUCTION LTD. V. NORTHBRIDGE INDEMNITY INSURANCE CO., 2016 SCC 37. In a September 2016 decision, The Supreme Court of Canada held that Northbridge Indemnity Insurance Co. would have to pay for damages caused during window cleaning despite a clause […]
The Ontario Court of Appeal (ONCA), in Goldhar v. Haaretz.com, 2016 ONCA 515 recently confirmed that a libel suit over an article written and published in Israel could be heard in Ontario if some of the readership resided in the Province. Specifically, the ONCA concluded that there was reputational damage that had occurred in Ontario […]
The Ontario Court of Appeal recently used evidence from email negotiations to interpret the meaning of a lease agreement in 1079268 Ontario Inc. v. Goodlife Fitness Centers Inc. 2017 ONCA 12. The disagreement between the parties over the amount of rent was the result of an unclear contract that had contradictory clauses referring to the […]
The Ontario Court of Appeal recently confirmed that the contractual requirement for employees to be “actively employed” to receive their regular bonus payments or other employment benefits is not enough to displace an employee’s right to common law damages for breach of contract in wrongful termination cases. In Paquette v TeraGo Networks, 2016 ONCA 618 […]
Last year, we blogged about the Federal Court of Appeal’s decision in Wilson v Atomic Energy here, and specifically its determination that a dismissal without cause under the Canada Labour Code (“Code”) was not an unjust dismissal pursuant to sections 240 to 246 of the Code. In July 2016, the Supreme Court weighed in (2016 […]
There has been a debate over the past years regarding the legality of a termination provision in an employment contract which is compliant with the Employment Standards Act, 2000, [ESA] at the time of termination but which has the potential to violate the law in the future. In a recent case, Garreton v Complete Innovations […]
In August, Justice Belobaba handed down his decision in Johar v. Best Buy Canada Ltd., 2016 ONSC 5287. [http://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2016/2016onsc5287/2016onsc5287.html]. This judgment serves as a stark reminder to employers: if you assert just cause for terminating an employee when no cause exists, you may ultimately end up on the hook for a longer notice period. The […]
The Duty of Good Faith & Workplace Investigations: Joshi v National Bank of Canada A recent decision of the Ontario Superior Court has indicated that employers may in breach of their contractual duty of good faith if they fail to provide employees with due process rights in workplace investigations. The recent decision in Joshi v […]
Higher Standard of Proof in Police Discipline Hearings While the standard of proof in criminal law is to establish facts beyond a reasonable doubt, civil courts and administrative tribunals generally require that claims be proven on a balance of probabilities. Thanks to a recent decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal, we now know that […]
The Ontario Superior Court’s recent decision in Antunes v Limen Structures Ltd is an important caution to employers who embellish the attributes of their company or a particular position when courting future employees. This decision makes clear that the general duty of honesty in contractual performance can impact an employer’s liability for compensation in lieu […]
